In Memoriam: Lifetime Red Bank Resident, Former State Trooper, Fireman, Musician, Vet, Vinnie Soviero III, 78

Lifetime Red Bank resident Vincent J. Soviero III “peacefully left his body surrounded by his family” on Dec. 3 after experiencing a heart attack nearly two weeks prior. He was 78.

Vinnie Soviero III
Photo/family via Thompson Memorial Home

“‘Vinnie the Guinea,’ as he liked to introduce himself (sometimes interchanged with ‘WOP Cop’), lived his life fully and always on his own terms. He was a big personality, inarguably the life of any party, including another’s funeral. Some may have found his jokes at times to be offensive and off-putting, but his sole intention was to entertain and share a laugh, laughing at himself especially and expecting others to do the same.”
Loved ones of Vinnie Soviero III in his obituary

Vinnie was born in Red Bank on Sept. 20, 1944 and remained a lifelong resident. The eldest son of Vince and Ann Soviero, also lifetime Red Bank residents, “despite his Italian-American and Roman Catholic upbringing, growing up, he was continuously getting into mischief and enjoyed his status as class clown throughout his education within the Red Bank public school system. He graduated from Red Bank High School, Class of 1963.”

He worked several odd jobs, including as usher at the Carlton Theater in Red Bank, now The Count Basie. “There he had some authority, which would prove ironic, where only a few years earlier he and his friends would congregate in the balcony to set ablaze streams of natural gas produced by a certain bodily function … not to be tried at home, kids.”

Vinnie’s military and state police career and marriage …

Soon afterward, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served for four full years, including a 14-month tour in the Vietnam War. He continued on for two more years as a reservist. Because of his life-long passion for music, like his father and father’s father before him, during his service he played clarinet in the elite Marine Corps Band. Called The President’s Own, it is the oldest band of the U.S. military and the first professional musical organization in the nation.

After his discharge, he worked for a time with his father at the Bendix Corporation. He went on to marry Elaine Patti on June 1, 1968 at St. Anthony’s Church in Red Bank, the parish in which he grew up and brought up his own family. Their wedding was followed by reception at the Molly Pitcher Inn, which served as the venue for their anniversary dinners in the decades that followed.

In 1970, Vinnie joined the NJ State Police, with which he enjoyed a nearly thirty-year career, eventually advancing to the rank of Sergeant First Class. Among the many varied details he worked, including undercover narcotics and trooper security at the Garden State Arts Center, now PNC. There, he became friendly with countless celebrity performers.

He most relished his time with the NJ State Police Educational Services Unit. For years with this program he had the opportunity to work in the schools with kids all over the state, giving talks on gun safety, fire prevention and raising drug awareness. During the summer months when school was out of session, he and the ESU provided trooper detail at Monmouth Park Racetrack as security and traffic control.

It was also while with the State Police’s ESU that he spent a week each year at what was then Rider College, where the American Legion Jersey Boys State met to form their own mock government, for which his State Police unit was the law enforcement entity. During this week each year, Vinnie played clarinet with their Jersey Boys State Band.

He proudly retired from the NJ State Police in 1999, though would have stayed on, even pro bono, for the rest of his life if they would’ve had him.

Throughout his adult life, he volunteered more 50 years’ worth of service with the Red Bank Fire Department, specifically with the Independent Engine Company, continuing his father’s legacy there.

Vinnie’s hobbies and talents …

In the mid 1970’s, Vinnie developed a keen interest in magic and the art of illusion, and over the years became so skilled that he moonlighted as a closeup tableside magician in restaurants and cocktail lounges, as well as provided magic and entertainment as Flakey the Clown at children’s parties and events like the Monmouth County Fair. He attended magic conventions regularly and cultivated friendships with luminaries like James “The Amazing” Randi.

Vinnie was big on entertainment in general, whether as an entertainer himself or enjoying the classic movies and shows of his time. He enjoyed multiple genres: the Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Danny Kay-style musical comedies, old war and western pictures, especially featuring John Wayne, any and all of the Marx Brothers’ movies or sitcoms and drama serials like Wild Wild West, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, MASH, Jeopardy, to name a few.

“Basically, he was a die-hard fan of anything in the ‘don’t make ’em like they used to’ category.”

As entertainment, for Vinnie nothing beat great music, especially the classics and the Great American Songbook. Right up until his passing, he was an active member of several area concert, jazz and swing bands, performing as clarinetist, saxophonist and occasional oboist with groups like the Colts Neck Community Band, the Two Rivers Concert Band, the Alleluia Jazz Band and the VFW Jazz Band. He also served on the board of the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra.

Vinnie’s sports passions …

Vinnie was a big fan of the NY Giants. He followed all of their triumphs, defeats and personnel changes since the 1950’s, and attended countless games at Giants Stadium over the years. His closets and drawers contain no shortage of officially NFL licensed Giants sportswear and swag.

And nature and animals …

Vinnie also loved nature and animals, and to get away. With his state police vacation time and throughout his retirement he would go camping with his family annually at various campgrounds along the East Coast.

“In addition to raising multiple generations of dogs and cats, along with exotic pets like parrots and snakes, his love of animals earned him and Elaine unofficial neighborhood status as rehabbers, receiving over the years orphaned and injured baby raccoon, opossum, squirrels, birds and reptiles.”

Food, drink and good company …

“Many people say they eat to live, but anyone who knew Vinnie knew he lived to eat!”

He was a damn good grillmaster and cook who never glanced at a recipe, of course Italian being his favorite. No exaggeration – his manicotti (“mahni-gote,” the only acceptable pronunciation) was the envy of several area chefs of the cuisine, his own wife and mother-in-law included.

And of course, most meals needed a martini appetizer. For many years, his cocktail of choice was an extra dry Tanqueray martini, up with a twist (it wasn’t a martini if it was vodka). In recent years, he preferred Bombay Sapphire and curbed his drinking by keeping things less dry with a gin-vermouth ratio of 1:1. And wine paired with almost every dinner was a given.

Vinnie is predeceased by his parents Vincent J. Soviero, Jr. and Ann Soviero.

He is survived by: his wife, Elaine Soviero; brother, John Soviero and wife Susan; children, James, Thomas and Gina; and grandchildren, Michael S., Nicholas, Michael F., Meleana and Christian.

In lieu of flowers, to honor him Vinnie most certainly would have you do whatever you can to help make the world a better place, and perhaps to donate to one of his favorite charities, the Wounded Warrior Project. He would also expect that everyone celebrate his passing as no less a joyous occasion than any other part of his full, sometimes irreverent, but always jocular life.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Thompson Memorial Home, 310 Broad St, Red Bank. A mass of christian burial will be celebrated on Friday, Dec.9, at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 121 Bridge Ave, Red Bank. Burial will follow at Mr. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown.

— Edited obituary written by family via Thompson Memorial Home